魔術師 ( Magician )
by smolgaysinner
Summary: A talented magician. A breathtaking American. Arthur's mother always prepared him for the challenges he would face growing up. The Church and their cruel views, the strain of music magic, and the dangerous of his own magic. The one thing she never prepared him for was love.
1. Chapter 1

Arthur walked down the cobblestone path before him as the sky above him slowly grew darker allowing him to get an early peek of the night stars. He had just returned from the town market to get some supplies for this week. As if his efforts even mattered.  
/He knew that the circus he owned was going downhill pretty fast. Arthur was always fascinated by the wonders of magic. Of course he belonged to a bloodline of magicians and witches. His mother was the best one the family had. He remembered as a child,  
/his mother would cradle him in her arms, on the rocking chair in Arthur's room and just sang to him. Her voice was that of a siren. When she sang, it felt everything around them stopped and nothing else mattered.

 _"Oh, sing sweet nightingale_

 _Sing sweet nightingale_

 _High above me_

 _Oh, sing sweet nightingale_

 _Sing sweet nightingale_

 _High above."_

Arthur would just curl up against his mother and waited for it to happen. Slowly, ever so slowly, objects in the room would begin to levitate off the bookshelves and off the fireplace and would float towards the two. The small plastic horses he played  
/with would come to life and gallop around the rocking chair. Arthur giggled and craned his neck to see where the horses would go off to next. Some of them would float upwards towards Arthur encouraging him to chase them. He would jump off his mother'slap  
and laughed as his little feet tried to keep up with the toy horses. Suddenly the horses and everything else that was floating fell to the ground with a thud.

He looked over to his mother who was coughing into her hand very violently as she clutched her side with her free hand. Noticing that her son was watching, she let go of her side and forced herself to stop coughing. She gave him a kind smile even though  
/her eyes showed pain. "I'll teach you this song my dear Arthur." She promised. "I'll teach other kinds of magic. You'll love it my sweetheart." Arthur furrowed his brows in concern for his mother but just nodded and went off to hug her. It was times  
/like this that reminded Arthur of how limited time he had with his poor, sick, mother. Even though she kept smiling for her him, deep inside, Arthur knew how much pain his mother was in.

Arthur smiled at the memories of the lessons his mother would teach him. The lessons were like a special bonding moment just for the two of them. His two older brothers weren't as interested in magic as Arthur was so it would just be the two of them.  
/His mother kept her promise and engulfed Arthur with lessons that would always be a part of him. She started off with simple stuff like making the books levitate and the plastic horses come to life without the song. She said that using music to create  
/magic was very challenging and took lots of practice. She said that using your voice for magic was something entirely new.

"It's not the same as using your hand or mind...it's like connecting your soul to the thing you want to move or the flowers you want to bloom. Using a song for magic is like becoming one with the magic itself. It's dangerous, it's terrifying and

yet...it makes you cry tears of joy. It's one of the most wonderful feelings in the world Arthur." She whispered softly stroking his hair softly one morning in the kitchen. Arthur stayed quiet as his mother explained this to him hanging onto

every last word. He wasn't so sure if it was his imagination or not but he swore that he could hear his mother crying.

"I can't wait for you to use it." His mother caressed his cheek gently.

"Mother?" Arthur asked putting a hand up to hers not wanting her to remove it.

"Yes my dear?"

"How is it dangerous?" Arthur asked feeling confused. How could his mother do something she considered dangerous, but still do it every waking moment of her life?

His mother looked down at the floor her smile vanishing. "Not everyone understands it Arthur. Not everyone in this family has been able to do it freely or as much as they wanted too." His mother replied, her tone showing that she didn't want to speak  
/of this matter anymore. Arthur was used to this. Even though his mother taught him magic, there was some things she kept far away from him. Arthur never questioned her since he always believed that his mother knew best. After all, she was the best  
/witch in the family.

Arthur snapped back into reality when he tripped over on a large tree root and fell face-first into the road. He swore something under his breath along the lines of, "Bloody hell", and lifted his head to see that the bag of apples he purchased at the  
/town market were rolling down the stone path. Arthur quickly lifted his hand and stopped the apples in their tracks. He sucked in his breath and realized his mistake. He quickly darted his eyes around the grassy area to see if anyone was around to  
/see him use magic. He sighed in relief when he saw no one. He couldn't risk using his magic outside of the circus since it would cause unwanted attention to himself. Arthur continued to use magic lifting one finger in the air and the apples followed  
/along with the finger. He made a beckoning motion for the apples to come towards him and they obeyed.

Once the apples dropped into Arthur's open hand, he got up and placed them back into the brown shopping bag. He dusted himself off not noticing the young man approaching him at first. "Wow that was so cool how did you do that?!" The man gushed his eyes  
/showing nothing but excitement. Arthur let out a loud yelp and jumped backed from the young man. "Where the bloody hell did you come from?!" Most people who saw magic being used would either be disgusted or they would just ignore the spell caster  
/completely. It wasn't a surprise that the people of London weren't too fond of magic. Arthur looked up at the man in fear unsure of what to do. He didn't know who this man was and who he standed with. His palms started to get all sweaty and his eyes  
/darted around for the best escape path to take just in case the man became hostile.

Magic was feared and anyone involved in magic would be captured by the Church and tortured or worse. The Church group in London believed they were doing the work of God getting rid of these magic users. The ringleader of these heathens went only

be the name of, "Vengeance ". Thankfully, Arthur managed to keep his circus hidden from this so called "Vengeance". The circus was more of a secret and flyers promoting it would only be given to people who confirmed that they do not side with the  
/Church. It was a risky task to do, but still, a young Italian man that went by the name of Feliciano Vargas went around town at night and entered pubs that were marked as safe zones and spoke to the people about the circus there. At first it was a  
/hit, Feliciano would bring in so many visitors to the circus. But now, the numbers were dropping thanks to the Church and "Vengeance". It was harder for people to come since they were concerned about their safety. Magic user or not, if you went anywhere  
/near it, you would be captured.

Arthur didn't respond to the young man. He wasn't sure if it was a good idea or not.

Not waiting for a response, the young man went back to babbling on like an excited child on Christmas.

"You must be a magician that's so cool! You know I always wanted to see a magic show but my parents would never let me! They say they don't want magic to corrupt my mind but I don't care! I think it's really awesome that you can do magic dude!" The man  
/was rather loud and seemed extremely energetic. Arthur just stared at the man in complete confusion. He had never met someone as loud as him. All of the words he just said with through one ear and out through the other. Arthur just kept gaze on the  
/young man trying to figure out his angle.

He was an American and was much taller than Arthur probably being a foot taller than him. He had these breathtaking, blue, ocean eyes that seemed to put Arthur into a deep trance. He had this rather adorable cowlick that complemented his short blonde  
/hair. He was also sporting glasses, a brown bomber jacket that fit him perfectly. This young man seemed to have returned from the orchards because he was carrying a bag of apples. Arthur must have been spacing out because the young man reached out  
/and shook his shoulder gently.

"Uh British dude? You alright there?" He said looking confused. The young man put a hand up to his own cheek to check if there was anything on it. Arthur felt himself blush in embarrassment. He took a step back and rubbed the back of his head gulping  
/nervously.

"P-Pardon, i didn't mean to space out." Arthur mumbled softly.

The young man just flashed him a huge grin and extended his hand towards Arthur in a friendly gesture. "My name is Alfred Jones, what's your name British dude?" Arthur didn't response right away. He just stared at the young man's hand. This was

something new. He wasn't used to talking to people other than the people he worked with. He hesitantly took his hand into Alfred's and shook it.

"My name is Arthur Kirkland." He responded offering a sort of crooked smile at Alfred. God he was nervous. This Alfred character seemed like a nice person. He didn't see to pose a threat to Arthur at all. Although this was true, Arthur still kept his  
/guard up. He just met this man after all. Alfred smiled kindly at Arthur.

"It's so cool that you-"

Before Alfred could finish his sentence, Arthur quickly put a finger to his lips and shushed him rather loudly. "Hush down you bloody git!"

Alfred seemed to take the hint because he quickly shut up. "Sorry Arthur." He whispered and offered a sheepish smile.

Arthur scowled a little in return. "...if you really interested in what I do, I can show you more. I own a circus not too far from here if you want to come, we're performing Friday night." Arthur informed Alfred hoping he was doing the right thing.  
/He hoped this Alfred person was truly a good person. It was hard to trust anyone these days if Feliciano had zero information on a person. He would look through the reports given to him by Feliciano and skipped through the parts that Feliciano wrote  
/in about how much his lover, Ludwig would love this cafe or would love this field and took note of the people Feliciano visited instead. The young Italian posed as a Church member and would visit other members, receive the wanted information, and  
/get it back to Arthur. It was very risky and dangerous task but Feliciano did the missions with a smile and said something along the lines of "It's to protect Ludwig."

"I do hope you can come." Continued Arthur making a mental note to himself to ask Feliciano if he knew anything about this energetic American.

Alfred's smile slowly started to waver. He suddenly looked uncomfortable and shrugged his shoulders but still managed to keep his goofy grin. "I would love too...i'll see if I'm free that day." Alfred chuckled softly. Arthur raised an eyebrow at this.  
/Alfred seemed so upbeat just a second ago but now he looked a bit uneasy and just troubled. Alfred quickly snapped out of his gloomy look and returned to his smiling self.

"Yeah..yeah!" He said with confidence tracing his voice. "I'll totally be there british dude!"

"Don't call me that, I have a name after all." Arthur glared slightly at Alfred in annoyance. Alfred didn't seem to notice the scowl and just continued to flash that big grin of his. "Anyway, me and my crew workers would love to see you there Mr.

Jones." Arthur continued. He didn't mention the fact that his circus hasn't done a huge performance ever since the murders done by the church and it's followers. He didn't want to scare off the man after all.

Alfred just laughed again and smiled sweetly at Arthur. "Mr. Jones is my father, just call me Alfred." He chirped happily. "So do you mind giving me directions to this circus of yours?"

"Oh yes, it's down this path and then you take a right to enter the forest." Arthur explained pointing towards the direction. "There should be a dirt trail in the forest that you can follow until you see two large cherry trees. Go right pass through the  
/cherry trees and the circus should be right there."

Alfred nodded. "Thanks British dude...I mean Arthur." He chuckled a little. "I'll be sure to check it out on Friday!"

"Right then," Arthur said. "I'll be on my way now." He started to walk down the path before Alfred's arm pulled him back.

"Wait I wanna give you something!" Alfred offered an apple to the British man. Arthur stared at in confusion. He already had apples so what was the point of accepting this one? Still, Arthur slowly took the apple from Alfred. When his hand reached over  
/to grab the apple, he felt his fingers brush against Alfred's; sending jolts of energy throughout Arthur. It felt like everything around them stopped. It felt like everything around Arthur brightened up at his touch. It felt like the world only consisted  
/of Alfred and Arthur. His felt fingers lingered on Alfred's for a moment longer, before he snapped out of it and took the apple; feeling his cheeks turn a bright red.

Alfred didn't seem to notice and gave Arthur a big thumbs up. "Well, I'll see you later Arthur!"

"O-Of course..." Arthur stood there and watched Alfred walk away from him. He didn't move an inch until he could no longer see the American. The sensation of Arthur's fingers on Alfred's still lingered within the British man. When they touched, everything  
/around Arthur exploded in color. Everything seemed more happy and stunning. It seemed like the grass around him seemed even more green, the poppy flowers that were residents in the grass seemed to be beating with their colors of white, red, and pink.  
/Everything around the Brit was just simply marvelous. When he looked up at the sky, he looked surprised to see how dark is was getting now.

He mumbled a curse under his breath, blaming Alfred for keeping away from the circus. He quickly started down the cobblestone path once more; more faster this time so he would make it make it back home before nightfall. Even though he felt annoyed that  
/the American kept him so long, he was actually hoping to see him again.

"I'll see him again won't I? "

Arthur had a small feeling that they would collide again. He kept his fingers crossed.

[ Time skip ]

When Arthur made to the two cherry blossom trees that hid the circus from unwanted eyes, he lingered there a moment to admire the trees. They were originally regular old oak trees, but one of the circus members, Wang Yao, modeled the trees after his brother's  
/favorite one. Yao had unique powers when it came to magic. He could make a flower bloom or make the old, rotten apples on tree turn back into ripe, and juicy ones! Yao loved using his magic for these type of things. Nature was pretty much his best  
/friend. Even though Yao was pretty skilled at magic, he would still have trouble with it. The biggest concern was how his emotions affected his usage. If he felt sour, the flowers around him would start to wilt and die. If he felt cheery, all plant  
/around him would burst into life; making the flowers the prettiest they have ever been, and making the fruit the most delicious they have ever been. It was useful at times but still it caused a few problems. So while Yao was training to keep his emotions  
/out of his magic, Arthur and the rest of the crew members would try making Yao feel anything but angry.

Strangely enough, Yao has been in the best moods lately. He would constantly be making things bloom and such. Although Arthur was content to see that Yao was in delightful moods, it was starting to become a small problem since he would constantly make  
/the plant life around him thrive. He couldn't even go outside without making the poppies bloom to their full potential. At least he wasn't killing off the plant life around him right?

Arthur finally walked through the cherry trees and was greeted by the circus. It was a fairly small tent, decorated with red and gold. It had it's usual common stripes and had a huge flowing velvet curtain in the middle that served as a door. There was  
/nothing else to look at. The circus was pretty run down since that was all Arthur could afford. Still, he was proud of it and was happy to call it home. He smiled and pulled back the velvet curtain was greeted by the usual delightful mood and lighting  
/of the circus. Small cheers erupted throughout the place as Arthur spotted, one his circus member, Ludwig, summon fire from his hand and proceeded to create a small fire in the fireplace of the room he was in.

Ludwig Beilschmidt's specialty was fire. He performed dangerous fire tricks such as breathing fire through his mouth. While other performers use alcohol and sticks of matches to create the illusion of fire coming from their mouths, Ludwig uses none of  
/these methods. It's actual fire coming from his mouth. It's very dangerous magic and it usually ended with Feliciano patching him up with the help of Yao. Despite being dangerous, Ludwig still did it. He explained that it was the only magic his family  
/was successful at and he took pride in being one of the best fire users in the entire family. Ludwig also mentioned that he was determined to beat his older brother, Gilbert as his own game. Gilbert wasn't part of the circus but from what Arthur heard,  
/he was an excellent fire user.

Arthur smiled at the little scene in front of him. The magic Ludwig used was so simple yet so wonderful. It amazes him that Ludwig and Yao had the power to use magic in a specific way to call the magic their own. Ludwig is mastering fire and Yao is mastering  
/Nature control. It was mind blowing at how easy it was for them to use it while others had trouble to summon a simple flame or make a flower seed at least sprout. That's what made magic beautiful. Despite the fact that not everyone could use the same  
/magic as someone else, it was still magic regardless. Magic to them was a gift so precious that they cherish it with their lives as if the magic was a tangible thing that they could reach out and grab. That's what made Arthur want to start the circus;  
/so different kinds of magic users can show and share the magic they have with other people. He wanted everyone to know the wonders of magic and how special it is. It's been harder to do nowadays, but it hasn't stopped Arthur yet!

Ludwig notices Arthur and offers him a smile.

"Impressive as always Ludwig." Arthur chuckled as he entered the room seeing that both Feliciano and a man that went by the name of Honda Kiku were also with Ludwig. Kiku was Yao's little brother and was excellent in Darkness Manipulation. He had the  
/ability to absorb the darkness around him and create wonderful illusions. He was also able to use his own shadow to be part of the act. The children that would visit the circus liked Kiku the best since he would make his shadow do comical acts.

"Welcome home Arthur-San." The Japanese man greeted Arthur bowing his head down a little when he spotted Arthur. He was going to respond when Feliciano on the other hand ran up to the British man and engulfed him in a bone-crushing bear hug. Arthur  
/winced a little but allowed the Italian man to continue with his so called hug, they felt more like strangles than anything! It was a mystery of how Ludwig could handle those hugs.

"ARTHUR!" Feliciano chirped in his usual loud and perky voice. "You're home! You're just in time for some pasta!" The Italian giggled as he swayed on his feet, making Arthur sway along with him.

Arthur chuckled lightly at that. Feliciano, other than Ludwig, was madly in love with pasta. It was his most favorite dish in the entire world. Feliciano especially loved making the dish for the entire crew! He loved cooking for them - mostly Ludwig-  
/and the rest of the circus members loved his cooking. The only compliant that Arthur has is that Feliciano always seems to make such a mess in the kitchen.

"That sounds great Feli." Arthur says. Feliciano quickly skips over to the kitchen to fix up a plate for the British man. When Feliciano left, Yao poked his head into the room. He looked somewhat worried and impatient. His amber orbs scanned the rooms  
/as if he were searching for someone.

"Where is Feliciano aru?" He asked, fully stepping into the room.

"What do you want him for?" Ludwig gave Yao a teasing grin. Yao's entire face turned red at this grin. He seemed to know what was coming.

"Do you want to know if you got any more of your lo-" Before Ludwig could even complete his sentence, Yao raced over to him, stood on his tippy toes, and placed his way too large sleeve over his mouth.

"SHUSH AI YA!" Yao yelled out his face practically red. Ludwig pushed away the hand over his mouth and was over come with laughter. The laughter just made Yao's face turn even more red. Arthur raised an eyebrow at this but didn't decide not to question  
/the Chinese man. He was acting strange enough.

Feliciano came back into the room with a plate of steaming spaghetti piled with tomato sauce. "Here you go Arthur!" He swayed on his feet, humming a tune happily as he offered the plate of the pasta to the Brit. Arthur thanked Feliciano and proceeded  
/to stuff his face with the delicious angel hair spaghetti. He stopped between chews. He felt it kinda sad of the fact that he has eaten so much of Feliciano's pasta, he could actually tell the different kind of noodles just by taste.

"Oh Yao!" Feliciano called out happily to the Chinese man. He rummaged through his back pocket for a second before pulling out a slightly crumbled up envelope. "This came for you this morning and I forgot to tell you! Oopsie!"

Yao's amber eyes widen in both relief and annoyance. "You didn't tell me?!" He said as he marched over to retrieve the envelope from the sheepish Italian. When he got the envelope, he quickly hugged it to his chest as if he were trying to make it a part  
/of himself. He quickly stopped when he heard Ludwig snickering.

"S-So Arthur any news on the street?" Yao stammered quickly trying to change the subject that was about to come out of the German's mouth. Arthur's mind suddenly snapped back to the thoughts of Alfred. He felt like he should mention this American but  
/found it difficult for the words to come out of his mouth. He didn't know why, but his mouth went dry when he tried to force the sentences out. He felt like it would mean trouble if he did.

Arthur just shrugged his shoulders. "You mean other news than the church trying to kill us?"

Yao frowned deeply. "It's bad out there huh aru?" He depressed frown suddenly turned more into an angry one.

"Those bastards aru! Why must they hurt us?! We did nothing wrong!" There were some small flower pots around decorated around the room that started to turn into wilt and turn into ugly colors. The roses that took resident in the flower pots start to sag  
/as if their own weight was crushing them. Kiku quickly went over to calm down his older brother before he killed off all of the plant life around his feet.

Feliciano on the other hand turned extremely quietly. Feliciano was quite sensitive and he absolutely hated it when they talked about the problems with the Church and the vile "Vengeance". He despised it so much. Tears already started to pool around his  
/brown eyes. It was the fact that Ludwig could be captured one day that hurt him the most. He couldn't stand the fact that it could happen and he could nothing to stop it. He could only prevent it from it happening now. Everyone in the room froze once  
/they saw the tears in the brown orbs of Feliciano. Small sniffles escaped the Italian as he used his sleeve to wipe away the oncoming tears.

Ludwig looked over at Arthur as the two had a silent conversation. Arthur knew what to do. He placed down his plate and cleared his throat.

 _"Oh, sing sweet nightingale_

 _Sing sweet nightingale_

 _High above me_

 _Oh, sing sweet nightingale_

 _Sing sweet nightingale_

 _High above."_

As soon as the first notes left his mouth, the small plastic horses from his childhood that rested on top of the fireplace slowly began to shake; until they completely came to life. The entire room was silent once again. It was so quiet that you could  
/hear a pen drop. Arthur felt him smile a little as his voice commanded the toy horses to do his requests. The miniature horses started to gallop through the air as if they really did have wings. Feliciano's eyes brightened up at the scene. Even though  
/he loved Ludwig's magic, it was Arthur's magic that intrigued him the most. To use music for magic, it was a very rare talent and almost impossible to master. Most famous magicians like Houdini couldn't even use music for magic.

Arthur closed his eyes and he begun to get lost in the music.

 _"Oh, sing sweet nightingale_

 _Sing sweet nightingale_

 _High above me_

 _Oh, sing sweet nightingale_

 _Sing sweet nightingale_

 _High above"_

The horses circled around Feliciano now as if they playing with him. The tears that stuck onto his eyes seemed to disappear quickly. The magic itself seemed to put everyone -not just Feliciano- in a trance. It was truly a breathtaking sight to see someone  
/using their music for magic. Feliciano slowly turned back into his cheery self as he swayed back and forth on his feet letting out an occasional, "Ve~", sound. He was smiling now and softly humming the song to himself.

The once sagging and wilted roses, slowly started to stand upright again, and the beautiful shade of red starting to spread out through the petals of the flower. Yao was now smiling and he seemed at peace. He was clutching the envelope tightly to his  
/chest again as he closed his eyes and followed along with Arthur's song; softly singing it to himself. Even Kiku and Ludwig seemed more relaxed than they did before. They all loved to hear Arthur sing.

The horses did one more circle around Feliciano before going back to their places on-top of the fireplace. They stopped right in their tracks and moved no longer when Arthur finished up his song. When Arthur opened his eyes, he was greeted by the clapping  
/of everyone in the room. Feliciano even went over to give him another smothering bear hug.

"Arthur that was amazing!" Feliciano complemented the British man as Ludwig walked over to them.

"You really are something else Arthur." Ludwig smiled a little at him and patted the Brit on the shoulder. It was his way of saying, "good job."

"Why thank you Feliciano and Ludwig." Arthur thanked the two lovers. Suddenly, his legs felt as heavy as stones. His head was beating down with sweat and his mind was starting to fog up thoughts of sleep. Even though, Arthur was able to do magic this  
/way, it took lots of energy out of a person. Arthur still hasn't completely mastered this skill to the point that it would tire him out.

He yawned a little and wiped his eyes. "Sorry gentlemen but I think I'll be going to bed now."

"Of course go ahead and rest Arthur-San." Kiku agreed with the British man. Yao would normally say something along the lines of him agreeing that it would be a good idea but now he was nowhere to be found. He probably went off to read his letter. Arthur  
/said goodnight to everybody and trudged his way towards his room. When he got to the room, he took his coat only to hear something fall to the ground with a small thud. He looked down to see that the apple that was given to him by Alfred had slipped  
/out of his coat pocket. He didn't pick it up at first. He just stared at it.

 _The sensation of Arthur's fingers on Alfred's still lingered within the British man. When they touched, everything around Arthur exploded in color. Everything seemed more happy and stunning. It seemed like the grass around him seemed even more green, the poppy flowers that were residents in the grass seemed to be beating with their colors of white, red, and pink. Everything around the Brit was just simply marvelous._

Arthur snapped out of his thoughts and bent over to pick up the apple and put it on his dresser. He didn't understand why the meeting of the American meant so much to him. It just another person that would probably stay away from the circus once they  
/hear about the Church murders. He sighed in annoyance and slipped off his pants. He was much too exhausted to change into regular nighttime attire. He was about to slip into bed when his eyes landed on the apple again. He just stood there staring  
/at it. Arthur made his way to the apple and picked it up gently in his hand. Why did a silly apple make feel like butterflies were tickling the inside of his stomach? This made zero sense to the Brit.

He shrugged and brought the apple up to his mouth to take a bite out of it but instead he paused. To his surprise, he just placed his lips on the apple and put it back on the dresser. He didn't feel like eating it now...or ever. Sighing in defeat, he  
/just slipped into bed and curled up with the colors. He would have to worry about that stupid apple another day.

"Stupid git..." He wasn't sure if he was talking about the apple or Alfred.

When Arthur closed his eyes to slip away into dream land, he could still feel the apple from his dresser.

As if it was taunting him

About Alfred of course.

Hey guys, it's Jess here! This is my first chapter of my major USUK Fanfiction I'm working on. I'll be posting this story both here on Wattpad, and on Fanfiction. My username on Fanfiction is smolgaysinner! My username for Wattpad is smolgay_sinner. I  
/hope you guys like this Fanfiction! Don't forget to rate and comment. I want to hear feedback on my writing so I can improve. Thanks guys! 3


	2. Chapter 2

"Mother?" Young Arthur asked stepping into the wooden floored kitchen. His mother was at the moment preparing lunch - Arthur's favorite, fish and chips- and writing in a small, leather book at the with her free hand. The book wasn't for her, it was for Arthur to read and study magic. She put down her quill and looked over at her son giving him a loving smile.

"What is it my dear?" She asked

"Where is father?"

His Mother's smiling face switched into a look of absolute horror. Her eyes looked alert and terrified, and her hands began to shake a bit. Her gaze was now on the ground as she tried to find a way to tell Arthur about the capture of his father. She knew she had to tell him today; who knew how long his father will survive? The burnings usually happened two days prior being captured. She took a deep breath and walked over to her son and scooped him up in her huge and caring arms.

They sat down at the kitchen table letting the silence in the room absorb them for a moment.

"Father...won't be coming back." She finally broke the silence. Arthur's young face twisted with confusion as he tried to grasp at this. What did she mean by not coming back? Before he could ask, the room was suddenly engulfed with water. It was like a mini tsunami that drowned the house entirely with water. Arthur's eyes widen in surprised as he looked around wildly for an exit. He was losing oxygen rather fast and had to get out. Arthur's mother had seem to vanish completely from the room and was replaced with a tall man. He had blond hair that Arthur would compare to a rotten squash. The man had it tied into a ponytail that hung at his back. The man was floating gracefully in the water as if he actually part of it. He opened his mouth and let out a very familiar laugh that the older Arthur grew up to HATE.

Arthur shot up in his bed and let out a rather high pitched scream. From the small window that was next to his bed, there was the same French man that appeared in his dreams. He laughed wildly at Arthur as if he had told him the funniest joke in the world. It took Arthur a moment to notice that not only his clothes were wet, but his entire bed was soaked.

"YOU BLOODY FROG!" Arthur yelled at the French man in rage as anger quickly boiled his body making the freezing driblets of water that clung to his skin dry up almost completely.

The French man just laughed harder.

His name was Francis Bonnefoy. He was also a magic user and a very irritating one at that. His skill in magic was hydrokinesis. Whenever he was around water-may it be a pond or a glass of water-he was able to manipulate the liquid's properties and perform with dazzling illusions. Francis was the first magic user-outside of his family-that he met when he started the circus. Despite Francis abusing his incredible power to play dirty tricks on unsuspecting people, Arthur still allowed him to join. Sometimes he regretted it.

This was one of those times.

"Oh you should have seen your face mon cher!" Francis rolled with laughter, holding his sides. Arthur swept the now soggy blankets off of his body and shot daggers at the French man.

"I've told you many times not to do that!" snapped Arthur.

"Do what?" Francis smiled innocently.

"I'M TIRED OF YOU USING YOUR MAGIC TO WAKE ME UP! STOP DOING IT!" said Arthur. Arthur believed that Francis would be bored of this by now! He's done the same trick 18 times now! Arthur figured that Francis would have at least tried something new.

Francis loved creating a gigantic bubble made of water, and dropping it on the poor, unsuspecting Arthur. Francis made sure to ask Ludwig to dig a hole for a pond near Arthur's window, he couldn't create the bubble without it. Arthur growled under his breath as he got out of his wet bed, went over to his dresser, and rummaged through it for some new clothes.

He didn't even notice the apple until Francis mentioned it.

"Can I have that?" He asked, pointing at the apple that rested on the dresser.

Arthur's eyes averted to the apple trying to remember where he got it. That's when memories of his encounter with Alfred blasted out throughout his mind. Why was that bloody American still on his mind? They only had one chat! Still, images of Alfred's sandy blond hair, bright sapphire eyes, and his brown tattered bomber jacket still floated in Arthur's mind. He was so engaged in his thoughts that he didn't even hear Francis's question.

"I'm not hearing a no." Francis shrugged and raised a finger slightly up in the air, making the apple follow.

Without hesitation, Arthur caught hold of the levitating apple and brought it close to his chest. "No you can't have it!"

Francis looked momentarily shocked by this, but then turned back into his grinning self. "The black sheep of Europe really cares about his apples hm?"

"Sod off." Arthur grouched feeling his cheeks heat up at his small outburst. He should be giving Francis the apple since he had no intention on eating it but he felt like he couldn't. As if taking the apple away from him would cause a wound on Arthur. He didn't understand it.

He turned his back away from the laughing French man and pulled out a clean white shirt from his dresser. Halfway of pulling up his wet shirt with one hand and holding the clean one with another, he noticed that Francis was still there.

"You got anything better to do perv?"

Francis faked a gasp and put a hand on his chest. A look of mock hurt spread across his face.

"A pervert? Moi? Impossible!" Francis declared before allowing a grin to grace his lips. "Well maybe I'm only a pervert for you mon cher~."

Arthur's face turned into billions shades of red. His emerald orbs twitched in annoyance and he shook his head. "Why don't you go recite your flirting to Ludwig? I'm pretty sure he could use the fire practice."

Francis poured childishly.

Arthur then finished changing out his wet shirt into a clean one. He smoothed out the wrinkles on it as he stood in front of the tall, wooden framed mirror that stood next to his dresser. Satisfied with the look, he exited out of his room without Francis.

"HEY! Don't leave me here!" Francis called out to him but Arthur tuned him out.

Arthur passed through the small rooms that belonged to his coworkers. Kiku and Yao shared a room as did Ludwig and Feliciano. Both Francis and Arthur had their own separate rooms. The rooms were located in the back room behind, where the main acts where held. It was cozy actually. Like a little house, like a little family. Even though a family is always broken.

The only other person with a room all to themselves was Yao. His "room" per say, was actually a garden located in the back part of the circus. It was nestled into the woods, close by and protected from intruders. Yao spent most of his days here to practice his powers with his garden.

He had all sorts of delicious plants and beautiful floral living in his garden. Tomatoes, potatoes, peaches. Sunflowers, Tudor roses, and peony to name a few.

Arthur carefully made his way through the branches that guarded the garden and would occasionally stab Arthur's face. Wether it's just the branches, or Yao controlling them, he'll never know. When he entered the garden he found Yao nestled in a bundle of sunflowers, sunbathing with the golden flowers. He had something in his hands that he kept close to his face, obviously reading whatever he was holding. Perhaps it was that letter from yesterday.

A few joyful giggles came from the small Chinese man from time to time.

"Yao?" Arthur cleared his throat.

In an instant, a nearby tree branch smacked the English man in the face in turn to Yao's surprised reaction. He shot up into a sitting position and whipped his head over to where Arthur was at. He hid the note in the folds of his pockets and attempted a sheepish smile.

"S-Sorry Arthur, you just surprised me that's all."

"I could tell.." Arthur said rubbing his cheek where the branch struck. His emerald eyes glared at Yao trying his best not to be angry with him. Instead he felt a huge wave of guilt.

Yao got up from the flowers and brushed off the dirt on his pants. His eyes averted away from Arthur trying to not look him in the eye. "So...can I help you with anything?" His voice strained with false cheerfulness.

Arthur's mind drew a blank. He had completely forgotten what he was going to ask of Yao. Was he going to invite him to go over to town with him? Was that it? Even if it was, Yao was surely to say no. He always said no whenever Arthur wanted to spend time with him.

"What's that letter about?" Arthur decided to ask.

Yao's face shifted into a slight expression of horror and then into a defensive one. "Why do you want to know? It doesn't concern you."

"I'm just asking." Arthur raised his hands up in defense. He let out a heavy sigh. He didn't blame Yao for being aggressive towards him. It was Arthur's fault.

Arthur cleared his throat. "...Yao...would you like to come with me into town? We could get some of those cookies you like. I think I have enough money to afford 2 boxes."

Yao snorted. "Me? Go into town with you? So I can catch you with a lady again?" His eyes showing hurt when he finished the sentence. As if someone had flicked a switch, the nearby flowers started to sag. Both of Yao's hands tightened up into fists.

Arthur took in a sharp breath. The guilt in his chest had risen up. It would be a lie to say that Arthur and Yao had nothing more than a friendship. They had together for as long as Arthur could remember. He was actually happy. Who knew that one drink could forever change his relationship with Yao?

Arthur's gaze was now on the ground. "I..I'm sorry." The sounds of departing footsteps made Arthur look up again. Yao had run off deeper into the forest, his ebony pony-tail swishing back and forth.

A little family...

Arthur swallowed hard but didn't budge to follow.

Even a little one is broken...


End file.
